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Show WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM THE SIGNPOST MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 3 SANTA continued from front freshman Joe Weber in second place. Weber said he likes to run in 5ks and 10ks and has participated in the Santa Run for the past four years. “I like to run, and this is just a fun race,” Weber said. Volunteers dressed as elves helped with the race by handing milk and cookies to participants every half mile throughout the race. “It’s the only race where we can get milk and cookies along the way,” WSU staff member Danna Woods said. “You can gain weight while you’re running.” The proceeds from the race this year were donated to Ogden’s Christmas Village and the Policeman’s Ball. Coles said this was a great way to have a fun event that supports the city. Coles paired his run with the Ogden Christmas Parade and the lighting of Christmas Village. “It’s amazing when you can pair two great events,” Coles said. When the Santa Run started seven years ago, Coles said he only had around 200 runners; now the number has risen to 1,100. Coles said they originally offered race participants a T-shirt with the hopes of adding the Santa suit, but the company required an order of 1,000 suits. Years later, the event is now big Student_Half Page Ad.indd 1 enough to include Santa suits for all participants. “It started out as a fun thing with a small group, and I’m amazed at how big it became,” said Coles. After the race, Ogden residents watched the holiday parade. The night sky lit up with fireworks as part of the show. All of these events lead to the lighting of Ogden’s Christmas Village. Christmas Village is located in the heart of downtown Ogden and features small cottages and buildings that were donated and created by various artists. The buildings and trees were illuminated with lights to signify the beginning of the holiday sea- PHOTOS BY LICHELLE JENKINS | THE SIGNPOST son, and there were even two purple and white trees dedicated to WSU. “It’s a big kickoff downtown—parade, lights, it has everything,” said Emma Young participants pose for the camera at the Santa Clark , a WSU employee. Run (top left). A family approaches the finish line together (top right). Participant marks time finished as he Comment on this story at crosses the finish line (bottom left) while three particiwsusignpost.com pants celebrate finishing the race (bottom right). 8/14/14 11:26 AM |